Selling and Buying a Home
Real-life advice for buying and selling a home
Welcome to the Selling and Buying a Home blog.
My name is Leah Ingram, and, together with my husband, I’ve bought and sold eight homes in the past 20 years. One of those homes we built new.
My husband and I are also the DIY type. We’ve renovated nearly every home we’ve owned. This includes upgrading bathrooms, redoing a kitchen down to the studs and painting a home, top to bottom.
In addition to my personal experience as a homeowner, I’m a writer that has covered real estate for national publications.
For more than a decade I wrote about celebrity real estate, home-buying trends, money-saving tips for moving, curb appeal and more for NBC Universal and Parade Magazine.
Now I’m bringing my aspirational but authoritative and approachable take on selling and buying a home to my own blog. I’m going to share with you what works (and what doesn’t ) when selling a home as well as when you’re buying a home.
Rather than telling you what you want to hear, I’m going to tell you what you need to hear if you want to get a good price on a home you’re selling or buying. Basically, I’m going to cut through the BS and give you real-life, attainable advice that’s applicable to both buyers and sellers.
Finally, I’m also sharing advice on home decorating, maintenance and other topics related to home ownership. This includes how to fit an area rug under a bed or why you might want to paint an accent wall in your home.
However, this is hardly my only blog. I’ve been covering personal finance for nearly as long as I’ve been selling and buying homes. Once we were suddenly frugal. These days we’re real sophisticated consumers.
You’re welcome to read my other blog The Real Sophisticated Consumer here.
Residential Property: Types of Homes
There are many types of homes to consider when buying a place to live. It all depends on your budget, where you live, what kind of housing stock is available and, frankly, what the real estate market looks like when you start searching for a…
Lawn and Grass Care 101
You might think you know everything you need to know about lawn and grass care. However, I’m betting that some of the advice I’ll offer in this article will be new to you. And why am I writing this article about grass right now? Because…
Winter Cleaning Tips
You may think about deep cleaning the house in spring only, but winter cleaning is important, too. And I’m not just talking about vacuuming or dusting. Something you may not have considered is how the colder months affect how clean (or dirty) our homes become….
Selling a Home Checklist
I’ve put together this selling a home checklist so you can get your house on the market fast and sell it for top dollar.
Bamboo Flooring Pros and Cons
When my husband and I were looking to replace the floors in our house, we hadn’t even considered that you could use bamboo as a hardwood flooring. I always thought that flooring had to be wood-wood–you know, from trees. However, when we visited Home Depot…
What is Greige Color
The first time I asked the question, “What is greige color?” was when we were selling a home a few years ago. This was our house at the New Jersey shore. We knew that the whole interior of the home needed a fresh paint job….
What Contingent Means in Real Estate
When it comes to real estate, you may be wondering what contingent means. Perhaps you were looking at home on Realtor or Zillow and saw the word contingent there. The truth is the word contingent has a simple definition. And that is this: when something…
What Not to Fix When Selling a House
Selling your home? Don’t stress about your to-do list of things to fix before selling a house. These are home improvements that aren’t worth doing in today’s real estate market. That’s because you’ll never get your investment back. In a different market, these were the…
How to Create a Black Accent Wall
What are your thoughts on using a black accent wall in your home? I’m always impressed when I see rooms with a wall like this. Why? Because it really stands out and can add a level of drama to an otherwise boring room. I mean,…
Who am I?
I’m Leah Ingram, homeowner seven times over, author of 15 books and journalist, formerly covering real estate for NBC Universal and Parade Magazine.